SMRs AND ADVANCED REACTORS | COOLING ALFRED
ALFRED advanced reactor analysis
A thermal-hydraulic model of the hot fuel assembly of the advanced
ALFRED reactor has been explored to reveal the impact how changing parameters such as fuel temperatures, cooling and cooling fluid density affect neutronic parameters such as power distribution and critical reactor conditions
Korosh Rahbari, Darush Masti, Kamran Sepanloo, and Ehsan Zarifi, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Bushehr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran, Reactor and nuclear safety school,
Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI) Iran and the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Science and Research Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University
THE PLAN TO USE ADVANCED fast reactors with molten lead cooling in the form of fourth generation reactors was proposed in 2000. In 2010, for the first time a plan to develop and build
fast reactors with molten lead reactor was proposed and in 2012 the conceptual design of the ALFRED reactor was investigated based on the LEADER project. The ALFRED reactor and the ELFR design and different aspects of the ALFRED reactor design and its safety aspects were introduced in 2013 and in 2014 the concept design of rotary steam generators for the ALFRED reactor was reviewed. In the same year the dynamic behavior of the ALFRED reactor was simulated and investigated. However, even though it has been several years since
conceptual plans were proposed in the field of advanced ALFRED reactors, published calculations about this type of reactor are limited, especially simultaneous neutronic and thermal-hydraulic calculations. In this research, the neutronic and thermal-hydraulic behaviour of an advanced reactor core with ALFRED lead
coolant and neutron code couple and its thermal-hydraulics model are investigated and analysed. The purpose of performing neutron calculations in the core of a reactor is to calculate the neutron flux distribution in the core and calculate the effective multiplication factor. Due to the necessity of performing accurate neutron calculations, first of all, the real geometry of the core, the composition and richness of the fuel, the grid pitch, the radius and height of the fuel rods, the composition and location of the combustible absorbers, the types and location of the control rods, and the arrangement of the assembly are needed. The fuel in the heart of the reactor, the radial and axial reflectors, should be determined and specified.
Modelling ALFRED MCNPX code is used for the neutron calculations using the Monte Carlo statistical method. In thermal-hydraulics calculations, due to the heat
transfer mechanism affecting the displacement between the fuel and the surrounding lead coolant, it actually makes
Power: Primary cycle:
300 MWth (125 Mwe) 400 - 480°C
Secondary cycle: 335 - 450°C, 180 bar
Main coolant pump Fuel assemblies
generator Main Steam
coolant pump
Right:
Schematics of the ALFRED reactor
Reactor core
Steam generator
Reactor vessel
Safety vessel
22 | April 2024 |
www.neimagazine.com
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